News

Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, has been selected to Leadership Maryland’s Class of 2015. Leadership Maryland is a professional development program dedicated to building a stronger Maryland by educating, cultivating, and connecting the state’s brightest leaders. Kirschling is one of 50 Maryland leaders who were chosen to participate.

Vanessa Fahie has spent 20 years developing programs to increase diversity in the profession. Fahie hopes that reaching children early and throughout their academic careers can usher more nurses of all backgrounds into the profession.

Rebecca Wiseman, PhD '93, RN, associate professor and chair of the University of Maryland School of Nursing’s program at the Universities at Shady Grove, has been appointed to the Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center Governing Board. The 19-member Governing Board is tasked with providing counsel to the Shady Grove Medical Center and its president.

Three School of Nursing faculty members braved frigid, windy conditions on two consecutive nights this winter to participate in Journey Home Baltimore’s Point in Time (PIT) count. The PIT count is a two-night event where volunteers travel in teams to help track sheltered and unsheltered homeless citizens. Teams were armed with blankets, coats, hats, mittens, shoes, socks, and snacks as they ventured onto the streets of Baltimore between midnight and 6 a.m.

Beginning in fall 2015, the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) will offer a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) Post-Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice specialty. UMSON is launching the new specialty in response to a continued need to strengthen the NNP workforce.

Five University of Maryland School of Nursing faculty members have been selected to participate in a yearlong program that focuses on leadership development for nurse educators who are emerging into administrative leadership roles or for the Leadership Development Program for Simulation Educators.

University of Maryland School of Nursing Associate Professor Gail Schoen Lemaire, PhD ‘96, PMHCNS, BC, CNL, has been appointed assistant dean for the Master of Science program. Lemaire is responsible for the development and implementation of the program’s policies and procedures.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing’s (UMSON) Center for Biology and Behavior Across the Lifespan (CBBAL) has been awarded a $12,500 grant from the Loveman Foundation to help facilitate ongoing research projects. Through the work of CBBAL, the School of Nursing is positioned to lead the University in research related to biology and behavior across the lifespan.

Commencement ceremonies for fall and winter 2014 graduates of the University of Maryland School of Nursing were held for the first time in December, marking another new tradition launched during UMSON’s 125th anniversary year.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing is pleased to announce that 12 of its faculty members have received the New Nurse Faculty Fellowship Award for FY ’15-‘17, a grant funded through the Nurse Support II Program (NSPII). NSPII is a statewide initiative designed to grow the number of nurses prepared to effectively function in a faculty role.

Two faculty members and two students from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON)were recently honored by the Maryland Nurses Association (MNA) at its annual convention. Barbara Dobish, MSN, RN, assistant professor, and Mary Fey, PhD ’14, MS ’01, RN, CHSE, assistant professor and director of UMSON’s clinical simulation laboratories, received MNA Awards. Clinical Nurse Leader students Emilie Cecil and Sarah Khaver were awarded Nursing Foundation of Maryland Scholarships.

University of Maryland School of Nursing faculty members Karen Kauffman, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, and Robin Newhouse, PhD ‘00, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, were among the recipients of Founder’s Week Awards from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Each year, UMB celebrates the achievements and successes of the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and philanthropic support, and pays tribute to its 200-plus-year history.

As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, the University of Maryland School of Nursing will honor 25 outstanding alumni (both living and deceased) as Visionary Pioneers who have become expert clinicians, educators, and leaders in Maryland, the nation, and around the world. Those selected have made a significant impact on and contributions to the nursing profession based on their leadership, innovation, or entrepreneurship.

University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) students Alice Cho, Tushana Fowlin, and Victoria Ladele have been awarded scholarships from the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Foundation. The Foundation awards scholarships to students currently enrolled in a nurse anesthesia program recognized and accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.

Marian Grant, DNP, RN, CRNP, assistant professor, has been named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RJWF) Health Policy Fellow. RWJF’s Health Policy Fellow program offers exceptional midcareer health professionals an opportunity to actively participate in the health policy process at the federal level. Each year, fellows are selected through a highly-competitive selection process to leave their campus or workplace to spend a year in Washington, D.C.

Louise S. Jenkins, PhD, RN, professor and director of the Institute for Educators in Nursing and Health Professions, has been inducted as a Fellow of the National League for Nursing’s Academy of Nursing Education. Fellows serve as important role models and resources for new educators and for those who aspire to become nurse educators.

Robin P. Newhouse, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, professor and chair, Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health, was recently inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. Newhouse was one of 25 nurse researchers inducted. The award recognizes nurse researchers who have achieved significant and sustained broad national or international recognition for their work, and whose research has impacted the profession and the people it serves.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing, in collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute of Human Virology; and the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization has received a grant to research strategies for improving and supporting occupational health practices in Haiti to protect workers from blood borne pathogens.

Assistant Professor Valerie E. Rogers has been awarded a Biomedical Research Grant from the American Lung Association. Rogers’s research project, Biomarkers of Airway Inflammation and Asthma Control in Children with Comorbid Sleep-Disordered Breathing will examine the mechanisms that cause the symptoms of children’s asthma to worsen when coupled with sleep apnea.

The Baltimore Sun recently published an article entitled, "Equality's Struggles," highlighting the great civil rights work of several Baltimoreans. Among them were Esther McCready, the first African-American graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and Larry Gibson, LLB, professor of law for forty years at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Eight UMSON doctoral students have been selected into the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program. The program provides financial assistance, leadership development, and networking support to its scholars, while expanding the pipeline of future nursing faculty into research-focused and practice-focused doctoral nursing programs.

Assistant Professor Catherine Haut, DNP, RN, CRNP, PNP, has been elected president of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, becoming the fourth member of the Maryland chapter to be appointed national president.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) is one of 52 schools that has been selected as a grant recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Scholarship Program. As a recipient of the grant, UMSON has been awarded ten, $10,000 scholarships for newly-admitted students in the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) master’s degree option for the 2014-15 academic year.

To encourage faculty members from multiple schools to work together for this purpose, the UMB Center for Interprofessional Education has awarded seed grants to interdisciplinary teams whose 13-month pilot projects will be carried out by June 2015.

Joseph E. Pellegrini, PhD, CRNA, associate professor and director of the Nurse Anesthesia specialty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), has been appointed to the Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) is pleased to announce that Mary E. (Meg) Johantgen, PhD, RN, associate professor and interim assistant dean for the PhD program, has accepted the position permanently.